Gods of the Hourglass
The 'Gods '''are an integral race present in the World of the Hourglass. They are immensely powerful inhuman entities who preside over certain aspects of reality, governing all within the universe. Before the Age of Christ, they were venerated by the people of old, where they were at the height of power and prominence. There are many pantheons of deities, depending on their place of origin on the globe, which are listed below. Types Netjeru The ''netjeru ''(singular: ''netjer, feminine: netjeret) are the deities of ancient Egypt. They governed the kingdom of sand in ancient times, keeping a watchful eye upon the pharaoh and his people. The netjeru are manifestations of the primal forces of ma'at ''(order) and ''isfet (chaos) and are in constant war against the gods of each side. The Gods of Chaos are ruled by Apophis and consist of his legions of demons and spirits, while the Gods of Order are ruled jointly by Ra, god of the Sun, and his great-grandson Horus the Younger. The most famous of the Gods of Order are as follows: * Ra, the God of the Sun and Divine Law, and Father of the Gods. He is the lone child of Nun, the primordial ocean, and leads the forces of order against those of chaos. Ra sails in a huge boat, bringing daylight to the world below. He is known by three forms, dependent on the time of day: Khepri (the scarab who embodies the rising sun), Herakhty (who embodies the noon sun), and Atum (the personification of the setting sun). * Shu and Tefnut, the God and Goddess of Air and Moisture, respectively. They are the children of Ra, formed from his breath (Shu) and perspiration (Tefnut). Aside from being brother and sister, they are consorts to one another, and are the parents of Geb and Nut, the earth and sky. Shu separates his children to preserve the order of the world, holding his ￼daughter as high as he can while crushing his son below. * Geb and Nut, the God and Goddess of the Earth and Sky, respectively. They are the children of Shu and Tefnut, and the parents of Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Set, and Horus the Elder. They are separated by their father Shu, as their love was so intense that no life could continue as there was no space to exist. In order to birth their quintet of children, Thoth, their uncle, drew lots with Khonsu, the deification of the Moon, and bought five extra days that did not belong in the original 360 day year. As Nut was ordered to never bear children on any day of the year, Nut used these five days and thus her children were born. ￼ * Isis, the Goddess of Magic and Regality, and Queen of the Gods. She is the daughter of Geb and Nut and is the wife of Osiris, and mother of Horus the Younger and Min, a god of fertility. She restored her husband to life at the cost of him ruling the Duat (Egyptian underworld), while she took the position of Queen after she uncovered Ra's secret name. * Osiris, the God of the Nature and Blessed Death, and ruler of the Underworld. He is the father of Horus the Younger and is the husband of Isis. He was killed by his brother Set in the supreme act of jealousy, but was restored by Isis. * Nephthys, the Goddess of Mourning. She is the mother of Anubis and the wife of Set, and it was she, along with Anubis, who helped Isis on her journey to restore her brother Osiris. * Horus- the Elder Horus is son of Geb and Nut whilst the Younger is the son of Osiris and Isis, and God of Radiance, Warfare, and Glory. He is the husband of Hathor and the father of the four deities of the canopic jars. * Anubis, God of Mummification and the Dead, and son of Osiris and Nephthys. He is a psychopomp and weighs the hearts of the dead, which determines whether they enter Aaru, the kingdom of Osiris which is analogous to Heaven, or to be devoured by Ammit, his chimerical attendant whose insides store the most evil of souls. The Gods of Chaos are listed as follows: * Apophis, the God of Chaos and Destruction. He appears in the form of a demonic serpent, and is said to be the brother of Ra, borne from his umbilical cord. Apophis dwells in the depths of the Duat, where he fights against Ra every night. If Apophis were to win, the entirety of the world would be devoured and extinguished of all life. * Set, the God of Foreignity, the Desert, and Jealousy. A son of Geb and Nut, he killed his brother Osiris in a fit of envy, and was later defeated by his nephew Horus. Set is a troubled figure and although he is not a supporter of Apophis, he doesn't trust the Gods of Order either.￼ The Ogdoad The Ogdoad are the eight primordial deities, self-formed are the beginning of time, and who embody the forces of Creation, Darkness, Infinity, and Invisibility. Two other deities, self-formed but not counted among the Ogdoad, are Neith and Ptah. * Nun, and his female counterpart Naunet, are watery deities embodying the primeval ocean from which Ra sprang forth from. They signify Creation. * Kek and Kauket, the shadowy deities who embody outer space. They signify Darkness. * Heh and Hauhet, the obscure deities who embody innumerable and boundless force. They signify Infinity. * Amun and Amaunet, the regal deities who embody wind. They signify Invisibility. Theoi The theoi are the Greek deities. They are the most renowned of the gods in the mind of the present population, and are separated into several factions depending on age and origin: the Protogenoi, the manifestations of the universe's physical locations, the Titans, the gargantuan children of Sky and Earth, the Dæmons, spirits embodying universal concepts, and the Olympians, the generation who follow the Titans and rule over the world from Mount Olympus, under the command of Zeus, son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. The Romans called the gods "dei" (singular: deus, feminine: dea). The Olympians The twelve Olympians are either the first five of Cronus and Rhea (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia), several children of Zeus (Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus), and finally, the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, who is known as the daughter of the Protogenoi Thalassa and Uranus. The Titans The twelve Titans are the children of Gaia and Uranus, consisting of Oceanus, Tethys, Coeus, Phoebe, Crius, Hyperion, Theia, Iapetus, Cronus, Rhea, Themis, and Mnemosyne. Cronus and Rhea are the parents of the Olympians. With Eurybia, the daughter of Gaia and Pontus, Crius is the father of Perses, Pallas, and Astraeus, who is the father of the winds. Iapetus and Clymene (one of the many daughters of Oceanus and Tethys) are the parents of Prometheus, the father of mankind, Epimetheus, Atlas, Menoetius, and Anchiale. Hyperion and Theia produced Helios, Selene, and Eos, said to be the Sun, Moon, and dawn respectively. From the union of Coeus and Phoebe came Leto, Asteria, and Lelantos. The Oceanids and the Potamoi are the six-thousand children of Oceanus and Tethys. The Potamoi are the river deities while the Oceanids are often tied to water. Famous Oceanids include Clymene, Doris, Pleione, Metis, and Styx.￼ The Protogenoi The Protogenoi are the physical manifestations of the universe's individual components, most commonly physical places, such as the earth, sea, and sky. The first of the Protogenoi are Magnum Khaios (the Void, and sometimes the air) and Auruphanes (the force of procreation). The birds are said to be the children of these two together, but Khaios herself bore Gaia (the Earth), Tartarus (the Abyss), Nyx (Night), and Erebus (Darkness) via parthenogenesis. From Gaia came the sea (Pontus), the sky (Uranus), the mountains (Ourea), and the islands (Nesoi). Nyx and Erebus bore Aether and Hemera, Light and Day. Other Protogenoi of unclear origin include Chronos and Ananke, Chronology and Compulsion respectively, Kairos, who personifies Opportunity, Hydros (Water), Physis (Nature), and Thesis (Creation). The Dæmons The dæmons are deities who signify individual concepts, rather than components, of the universe. Most dæmons are children of Nyx or the children of Nyx's daughter Eris. * Thanatos, the dæmon of death, is depicted as a winged man clothed in black, his wings black as well. Rather than his sisters, the Keres, who personify violent death as doom, Thanatos represents the peaceful passage from the land of mortals to the land of the dead. * Hypnos, the dæmon of sleep, is the twin brother of Thanatos. He is the father of the Oneiroi, the embodiments of dreams, who are subservient to the eldest of his sons, Morpheus. * The Keres are three in number, and represent the violent forms of death. They stalk battlefields like crows do for carrion. * Eris is the dæmon of strife and discord, and the favorite of Nyx. She herself is the mother of several more dæmons, including Horcus, Dysnomia, the Makhai, and the Pseudologoi. She takes the form of a pale woman likened to an alabaster statue, with dark wings. * Elpis is the dæmon of hope. She, along with several of her brothers and sisters, were contained within a box gifted from Zeus to Pandora, the first woman. She was the only dæmon to embody a virtue rather than a vice, and when Pandora opened the box, she was able to soothe humanity from the thousands of vices unleashed upon them.￼ Devas The word "deva" denotes a god to the Hindus. The feminine form is "devi". The gods of the Hindus are the beings observing humanity, either guiding them on or tossing them on the path to total nirvana. The most important male deities are three in number, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, collectively named the Trimurti. * Brahma is the god of creation, borne from the chaos at the beginning of time. He has three faces and is mounted atop a swan. He is the husband of Sarasvati, the goddess of wisdom and eloquence. * Shiva is the god of destruction, and the complete opposite of Vishnu. He is the husband of Parvati and father of Ganesha and Katirkeya, the gods of intelligence and battle. * Vishnu is the god of preservation, and the husband of Lakshmi, goddess of joy. He descended from the land of the gods to protect humanity from evil, taking nine human forms, or avatars. * Parvati is the daughter of Himavat, the god of the Himalayas, and is the sister of Ganga, goddess of the River Ganges. She is the reincarnation of Sati, who was Shiva's first wife, who committed suicide. With Shiva, she is the mother of Ganesha and Katirkeya. * Shakti is the Mother Goddess, the "divine female power" that works in both opposition and accordance with the male deities, often appearing as their female counterparts or wives. She is sometimes called Devi, meaning Goddess, and is present throughout Hindu mythology as several aspects, including: Parvati (and her aspects Sati, Durga, Kali, Gauri, Uma, and Ardhanarishvara), Mohini (a female avatar of Vishnu), Lakshmi, Sarasvati, and Yami (sometimes called Yamuna). * Yama is the god of death and ruler of the Underworld, along with his wife and sister Yami. He is the son of Surya, the god of the Sun, and lives in Naraka, which just essentially the word for hell. Although stern and fearsome, he is just and not even cruel in the slightest. * The Adityas are the many children of Aditi, including Varuna, Surya, Mitra, Chandra, Vishnu, Kama, and Indra. Their father is Kashyapa, the Cosmic Sage, who is also the father of Garuda and the Nagas. * The asuras are the counterparts of the devas, but are sometimes listed among their race. While the devas embody cosmic peace and order, the asuras embody every fault and vice a human could ever contain. Many of the asuras are the children of Diti and Rudra, who are called the Maruts. Other asuras include the rakshasas, ruled by the fifty-headed king Ravana, and the yakshas, who are benign but embody lust. * Prithvi is the Earth Mother of the Hindus, and the wife of Dyaus Pita, or the Sky Father. She often takes the form of a milk white bovine. With Dyaus, she is the mother of Agni, the god of flame, and Ushas, the divinity of the dawn. = Kami The kami are the deities of Japanese myth, although the term is misleading, as kami refers to anything supernatural. Specific kami are named as deities, but many of them can be classified as faeries or demons. * Izanami and Izanagi are the cosmic couple who are the father and mother of the gods, and it was they who summoned the islands of Japan. Izanami, following her death giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the god of fire, now resides in Yomi, the underworld, acting as advisor to Emma-O, lord of the dead. * Amaterasu is the goddess of the Sun, and the ancestress of the Japanese. * Tsukiyomi is god of the Moon. He is the brother of Amaterasu and Susanoo. * Susanoo is the god of the wind and storms, and brother to Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi. The three are children of Izanagi, borne from his own body. * Uke-Mochi is the goddess of sustenance and nutrition, and the master of all foods. She is the wife of Inari, the god of rice, who takes the form of a fox. * Ryujin is the draconic god of the sea. Chinese Deities The gods of the Chinese are subservient to the Jade Emperor, who rules in Heaven. Like the Hindus and the Japanese, their gods are said to guide humanity to both order and happiness. * Zhurong is the god of fire, and the slayer of Gong Gong, a serpentine demon of the flood. * ￼Chang'e is the goddess of the Moon, and the former wife of Houyi, the Divine Archer. She is exiled from both Heaven and Earth and thus lives on the Moon. * Gong Gong is a serpentine demon who personifies floodwater. * Fu Xi and Nu Wa are the brother-sister pair who created mankind together. * Pangu is the child of Yin, the goddess of darkness, and Yang, the male deity of radiance. He formed the world in the aftermath of his death, and is revered as forger of life. Mesoamerican Deities The deities of the Aztec and Maya are ones that demand blood to keep the world alive. * Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, is the deification of the planet Venus. * Mictlantecuhtli is the Lord of Mictlan, the land of death. * Xipe Totec is the god of vegetation. * Camazotz is the god of the night, in the form of a bat. * Tezcatlipoca is the god of darkness, death, and destruction. * Xolotl is the brother of Quetzalcoatl and is a psychopomp, taking the form of a hound. Celtic Deities The gods of the Celts are a wild tribe of entities, often synonymous with the faeries. The Irish gods are split into two clans, the Tuatha de Danann, who are descended from Dana, an earthen goddess of maternity, and the Fomorians, who are a race of aquatic, savage warriors. The gods of the Welsh are children of Dana's Welsh equivalent, Don, and Beli Mawr, the god of the Sun and death.￼ Norse Deities The gods of the Norse are split into two races: the warlike Aesir and the mysterious Vanir, who warred following the formation of the Earth but quickly came to a truce. * Energies The energy that serves as the foundation for any deity, and the source of all life in general, is called quintessence, the fifth element, from which water, earth, fire, and air can be derived from. Quintessence is sometimes known as aither ''(æther/aether/ether, to the Greeks) and ''musubi, which the kami of the Japanese are entities living representations of. Egypt divides quintessence into two forms, based upon alignment: isfet, which leans towards evil and disharmony, and ma'at, which leans towards order and truth. Trivia * According to Gabriel, humans are unable to become gods any longer as the ambrosia of the Greeks is no longer produced, as well as the elixir of life (the Chinese ambrosia) and amrita. * * * * *